Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Hard Rolls

Everyone likes a good sandwich roll; it can be the finishing touch for a great sandwich. Last Saturday night, I decided to make Sloppy Joes, and while doing so, try out a new recipe I'd found for Hard Rolls. This is adapted from my newer Fanny Farmer Cookbook (early 1990s vintage).

HARD ROLLS

1-1/2 cups warm water
6 tsp yeast

3-1/2 cups white flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
3 tsp gluten powder
1-1/2 tsp salt

Pour the warm water into your bread machine bucket or mixing bowl, and sprinkle the yeast over it. Add the remaining ingredients in the order given, and let the bread machine run through the first mixing cycle only, or stir together the ingredients to form a ball, then knead for 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic, or, with a Kitchenaid mixer, use the dough hook to mix the ingredients at the lowest speed for about 10 minutes. (Dang, that's a lot of options for the mixing.) Let the dough rest for 10 minutes, then divide into 16 pieces for small rolls, or 8 pieces for large rolls. Form each piece into a ball, then place on a greased baking tray on which you've sprinkled cornmeal; flatten each roll as you place it on the tray. Allow the rolls to rise until they've doubled in bulk, then brush with cold water and put in a preheated 450F oven for 15 minutes. Important: To get the proper hard roll texture, toss a handful of ice cubes in the bottom of the oven when you put the rolls in.
Fanny Farmer said this recipe would make 18 hard rolls; I guess she likes itty bitty rolls. My 16 were the right size for sliders, and everyone thought they were eating lots of food, since Ryan and Je3ff each ate 4 of them. But for a decent sized sandwich, you'll only want to make 8 rolls.


Note: These were great reheated the next day for lunch, too!

16 comments:

tamilyn said...

My favorite smell in the whole world is baking bread. I am trying a recipe today as we speak-I need to bake more bread! These look wonderful :)

Diane said...

And what was Thor's opinion, that is the most important of all? Diane

pam said...

Nothing like homemade rolls. They are almost too good though, take away from the yummy filling!

Jennifer said...

I love making bread, those rolls look absolutely yummy!

Christo Gonzales said...

you make these hard rolls seem easy - har de har har - I am so funny huh? I wish I had your baking skills!

Pam said...

Bookmarked! You are my bread guru.

pam said...

What is gluten powder and where do you get it? I'm a bread baker but haven't heard of it. Tx.

Linda said...

I was told to but bricks in the bottom of my oven and to spray a little water on them to make the crust crunchy by an old pizza maker. I find most recipes make about half.....I guess we think bigger is better;)

Mickle in NZ said...

Like Diane, I'd like to know what Thor thought of them (and hope he got some of the meat too). These rolls look so good!

~~louise~~ said...

I have taken a vow to make my own bread this season. Perhaps, I should begin with rolls. They sure sound good. I bet the aroma of home made rolls made Thor sure hungry!!!

Thank you so much for sharing. You sure are a woman of many hats!!!

Mickle in NZ said...

A little PS - here gluten "powder" is that sold as "Gluten Flour", a useful boost of gluten achieved with just a little of the product.

Happy Bread Baking Folks!

SissySees said...

The Knight is on a slider kick. I might be more supportive if he didn't think four was a starting point...

tavolini said...

Nice! Those look great and I like the smaller size :)

The Blonde Duck said...

My mission in life is to get as good as you at baking bread.

Tatersmama said...

I'm in the mood for sloppy joes now!
My ovens on the blink... (broken door hinge actually and I've been thinking about buying a bread maker, but decided against it since I'll just end up selling it at a garage sale in less than 5 months.)
So alas... I think I'll just have to use store bought hamburger buns tonight

grace said...

i've often struggled to find the best vehicle for a sloppy joe--many times, it becomes a knife-and-fork process. these rolls are perfect--thanks!